SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
February 27, 2015
Sullivan’s
Salvos 3/3/15
In this edition:
*Gold and White
*Kingsley Botchway
*Lying About War
*Giving Back
*Affordable Homes Discussion
*St. Patrick’s Day Party!
*Did You Know?
*Gold and White
Need I say
more? J
*Kingsley Botchway
Kingsley Botchway is
my friend. I’ll just put that out there. I have been thinking recently about
this friend of mine, and I realized that his situation deserved a mention in
Salvos.
What is his
“situation”, you ask? Well, as I see it, Kingsley is under a great deal of
pressure.
In his day job,
Kingsley is employed as the Equity Director for the ICCSD. If you follow the
news at all, you are aware of the ICCSD issues with the Diversity Policy, MLK
Day, redistricting, disproportionate minority punishment, difficulty recruiting
and retaining minority faculty, and other hot button issues. Kingsley stepped
into the middle of all of these issues when he became the Equity Director.
None of these issues
is an easy fix. Emotions run high in each case. People have very high
expectations. And people expect Kingsley to make it all better.
That is just his day
job. Kingsley is also a member of the Iowa City Council. As the youngest
Councilor in years, many young people have placed their hopes and dreams
squarely on his shoulders. As the only person of color on the Council, many
people of color have placed their hopes and dreams squarely on his shoulders.
As one of only a couple progressives on the Council, many progressives have
placed their hopes and dreams squarely on his shoulders. No pressure there!
An
example: at the 2/23 Council meeting, Iowa City discussed a TIF for the 15
story private student housing building to be built on Madison Street. The
developer had made a few interesting concessions on both the structure of the
TIF and affordable housing. Were these concessions worth a yes vote?
Kingsley
wanted to negotiate further, but Councilor Mims made it clear the time for
negotiation was over. (Despite the fact that this was the first time the
Council had discussed anything publicly.) So Kingsley was stuck. Take it or
leave it. He voted for the project.
I’m
sure a number of folks wish Kingsley had joined Councilor Throgmorton in
opposition. Others are no doubt pleased that he chose to be pragmatic and take
what staff had negotiated. Regardless of how you feel about this specific
project, one should be able to see that deciding how to vote in this case was a
struggle for Kingsley.
Like everyone else,
I have high expectations for Kingsley. We are all hungry for leadership, and in
this young man, we see reason for hope. That is good. But we must also know
that he cannot do it alone.
Yes, hold him
accountable. But also lend him a hand. Support him. Be kind to him. He needs
your help. Then great things will come.
*Lying About War
In just the past
couple of weeks, we have seen several prominent Americans – Bill O’Reilly,
Brian Williams, VA Secretary Robert McDonald – all lie about the role they
played in various military action.
I have a foolproof
solution! Let’s get American troops out of all these places around the globe.
Reduce the size of our military, especially arms projects the Pentagon doesn’t
even want. Cut that bloated budget by 10%, but allow the experts to decide how
to do the cutting. (The only exceptions being no cut in pay for enlisted men
and no cuts to VA benefits.) Stop all drone strikes. Focus on keeping Americans
safe here at home. Ramp up diplomacy. Get the hell out of the middle east.
Butter, not guns.
Once we do that,
O’Reilly, Williams, and the rest will have to find something else to lie about!
*Giving Back
It will not belong
before we have a gaggle of candidates for City Councils and School Boards. And
when asked why they decided to run, 80% will answer with some version of, “I just
want to give back.”
Ah, the candidate
who “wants to give back.” This is a pet peeve of mine. For several reasons.
First, I think there
is more truth to this statement that most candidates even realize. Assuming the
candidate was born in the US, she has been given a lot by her government. There
are no wars at home. She was born in a hospital with access to amazing healthcare
infrastructure. Public health infrastructure then got her vaccinated, and
ensures that her food, water, air, and medical products are safe. She had
access to all sorts of goods, services, and information, because of public
roads, airports, and utilities. Public schools were available for our candidate.
She was protected by fire, police, EMS, and the legal system. Her student loans
made college possible. As her parents aged, they accessed Medicare and
Medicaid. And now, she has the right to vote and run for office.
I’ve been to Haiti.
These things we take for granted are NOT there for much of the world’s
population. So when our candidate says she wants to “give back,” I think it is
important to recognize that an American can never truly repay the fantastic
system into which she was born. We are all damned lucky.
Secondly, some of
the folks who “just want to give back” think they made it on their own. She is
where she is because of her own hard work, period. And people who have not
succeeded simply have not tried hard enough.
I think she is
wrong. Just look at the long paragraph above. Had she been born in Saudi
Arabia, no amount of hard work would have mattered. Same with China, Ivory
Coast, and most of the countries on planet earth. By being born in the US, you
won the birth lottery. Hard work is a great thing, and it should be commended.
But there are many more variables.
Thirdly, let’s
assume you disagree with my last point. But you still want to “give back”. What
are you giving, and to whom? If our candidate is selected by local business
leaders, she is likely to “give back” to them. What does it mean to each
candidate when she says she is “giving back”? What are you giving? To whom?
When? How?
My final problem
with the statement, “I just want to give back,” is that it implies the
candidate has no real agenda except to do good.
Well, that ain’t how
things work. If you are running for elected office and have no agenda, DO NOT
RUN! Elected officials should be running on a set of ideas. If all our
candidate wants to do is “give back”, she is either stupid or covering up her
real intentions.
“Giving back” is a
nice sentiment. It simply does not work in the real world of politics.
*Affordable Homes Discussion
On
March 11th at 5:30pm at the Coralville Library, the Affordable Homes Coalition
is hosting a panel discussion on Affordable Housing. This is a chance for all
of us -- activists, general public, public officials, the press -- to learn
from people who live in affordable homes about the impact of these homes on
their lives.
Reverend
John McKinstry of First Christian Church will moderate the panel. Please come
and bring a friend!
*St. Patrick’s Day Party!
We
are having a St. Patrick’s Day Party on Tuesday, March 17 from 4:30-8:30pm at
our home in Iowa City.
The
party is serving as a fundraiser for Sullivan for Supervisor. That said, please
do not feel obligated to donate – you can just show up! We would request that
anyone who plans on attending please RSVP so we know what to expect. Just reply
to this email address.
*DID YOU KNOW? We are past Presidents Day, but this bit of trivia
is too good to ignore: the 10th president of the United States was John Tyler,
who was born in 1790, and he has two living grandsons.
You read that sentence correctly! John Tyler has two living grandsons!
Anyone
interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the
County website-
"Sullivan’s
Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a
brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.
These messages
come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the
whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise
mentioned.
If you do NOT
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As always,
feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to
serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 7:40 PM
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